Fury beat Parker, claims Wilder
Foreman calls out Seagal
Outspoken American heavyweight boxer Deontay Wilder believes Joseph Parker lost his last fight and has added to the conspiracy theories around the Fury family.
Parker defended his WBO world heavyweight title against Hughie Fury in Manchester last month, getting a controversial majority points decision 114-114, 118-110, 118-110.
The Fury camp has been up in arms about the decision, appealing to the British Boxing Board of Control who handled the fight for the WBO, and pleading for a rematch.
The Parker camp, backed by many pundits, believe their man won comfortably, though admitted the scoring by two judges who handed 10 of the 12 rounds to the Kiwi were a little generous.
Wilder, the WBC champion, who is eager to unify the belts held by Parker and Britain’s Anthony Joshua (WBA and IBF champion), posted a YouTube clip where he laid out his feelings about the Manchester fight.
‘‘I don’t know what the hell that was,’’ Wilder said of a cat and mouse fight.
‘‘But I will say this though ... I wasn’t keeping up with the score ... but looking upon the fight, I thought Fury won.
‘‘I thought he was more polished, he moved, he struck and moved. I thought The fight game just gets more bizarre with former world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman challenging Hollywood tough guy Steven Seagal to an open-rules contest over 10 rounds.
Foreman, 68, hasn’t fought since 1997 but for some reason wants to enter the ring with Seagal in Las Vegas, calling him out on Twitter.
‘‘Steven Seagal, I challenge you one on one, I use boxing you can use whatever. 10 rounds in Vegas,’’ Foreman tweeted.
When it was suggested the 65-year-old Seagal, who is a 7th-dan black belt in Aikido, might be able to use weapons, Foreman clarified that.
‘‘No weapons, hand-to-hand only,’’ Foreman insisted.
Foreman had great banter with fans on Twitter, insisting he was serious and believing he could get his famous jab working again to win the fight.
But he gave no indication as to why he wanted to fight Seagal, other than that he
he had the more clearer punches.’’
Wilder has problems of his own as he looks to defend his WBC title. He is slated for a fight against big Cuban Luis Ortiz in November but that fight is now under felt he was a worthy opponent with his martial arts background.
There has been speculation that Foreman’s out-of-the-blue challenge may have something to do with Seagal’s recent comments on NFL players who protest by taking a knee during the United States national anthem.
Seagal, a Michigan-born actor who became a Russian citizen in 2016, last week called the pregame protests ‘‘outrageous,’’ ‘‘a joke’’ and ‘‘disgusting’’.
a major cloud with Ortiz battling doping allegations.
It is the third time Wilder has had a title fight hit by a doping controversy involving his opponent.